Wall With Reset Tombstones On South Side Of Churchyard

SAFFRON WALDEN

TL5338 SAINT MARY'S CHURCHYARD 669-1/1/404 Wall with reset tombstones on south side of churchyard

GV II

Wall with reset tombstones. c1800. Red brick. 125m long with way through from Church Lane 50m from W end, approx 2m high. Flemish bond with battered and dentilled coping, rounded top in brick. E section rises from Church Lane in 3 steps following the slope of the ground. Some sections repaired with no upper decoration. Tombstones reset against N churchyard side in both sections, those E of Church Lane are best preserved including one to Jonathan Parker,`ingenious needy artisn' 1764, showing craftsmens tools and recorded restoration in 1931. Also 3 tombstones similar to each other, John Liverett, 1783, Robert Liverett, 1801 and Thomas Gardner, 1802, winged cherub head supported by lunate reeded band and set within similarly decorated rectangular frame, surmounting crescentic decoration of foliage. Several tombstones now illegible but of C18 type with cherubs' heads, foliage and volutes, one to William Winstanley, 1750 with a skull and steeply inclined volutes. W end tombstones are more weathered but include John Waite, 1768, with cherubs and scrolls and Elizabeth Erswell, 1826.

Listing NGR: TL5369538563